Andy Warhol was much more than the “Prince of Pop Art” that we all know. Offering a detailed look at his character, as well as his multifaceted career, is the biography, hot off the press, Warhol: A Life as Art. Almost a thousand compelling pages, and entertaining as well, which sweep the reader away in a tale that starts at the origins of Andrew Warhola - son of an immigrant couple from Slovakia, who came to Pittsburgh in the ‘30s - to his first successes as a commercial illustrator, then to his pioneering art revolution. But besides reading the book by Gopnik, Andy Warhol fans can also find plenty of events dedicated to their beloved artist launched by the Tate Gallery in occasion of the exhibition Andy Warhol. While waiting for its reopening, the London museum has created a virtual stroll which winds through the 11 halls of the exhibition, with the public accompanied by Gregor Muir and Fiontán Moran, the curators of the exhibition at the Tate. His fascination with religion and Hollywood, his activities as an illustrator in New York, the debut of Andy “Swish”, and even Sleep, his first film, shot over several nights between the summer and autumn of 1963 with a 16mm camera, are just some of the highlights of this dazzling virtual tour.
Paintings, sculptures, textiles and poetry by over 50 artists including Uzo Egonu, El Anatsui, Ladi Kwali and Ben Enwonwu chronicle the achievements of Nigerian artists working before and after the decade of the nation’s independence from British colonial rule in 1960.
In 1924, the V&A received a gift of over 80.000 playbills, programmes and objects from collector Gabrielle Enthoven. The gift marked the beginning of the museum's collection of theatre material, which has since evolved into the UK's National Collection of Performing Arts.
Elevating fashion and portrait photography to an art form, Cecil Beaton's photographs defined an era, capturing beauty, glamour and star power in the interwar and postwar eras.